Youth inspire optimism for nation’s future

Delta Company heads out for a physical training session at Camp Pendleton during U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps recruit training in late December 2013.

/ Courtesy U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps

Delta Company heads out for a physical training session at Camp Pendleton during U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps recruit training in late December 2013.

Delta Company heads out for a physical training session at Camp Pendleton during U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps recruit training in late December 2013. (/ Courtesy U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps)

Adrian Vore

As letters editor, I hear frequently from readers lamenting the condition of the country and its future. “The country is not as great as it used to be,” they’ll say.

But I was involved with a program earlier this month at Camp Pendleton that made me think otherwise. More than 500 cadets from the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps came from throughout the United States — Long Island, Idaho, Texas, Seattle — and from throughout the state, Redding to San Diego, to participate in training in a variety of subjects. The cadets, ages 11 to 17, learned basic military orders; acquired radio skills; took STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classes; and studied first aid like a Navy corpsman, to name a few subjects.

What amazed me and made me optimistic about the country’s future was the leadership displayed by the teens and the opportunities to learn and experience leading.

I spent more than a week at Camp Pendleton with a company of 56 boys, ages 14 to 17, who were undergoing recruit training — basically a boot camp. Two other companies of boys and one company of girls also took part in recruit training. In total, about 200 teenagers went through nine days of rigorous tests of their mental and physical stamina. It involved rising from their bunks in the barracks at Camp Margarita at 5 a.m., marching, inspections, standing at attention, barracks cleaning, classroom sessions and physical training that left their muscles and lungs burning. Lights went out at 9 p.m., and the recruits were out.

I became involved in the Naval Sea Cadets when my 13-year-old son joined a little more than a year ago. Like most parents, “helping out” grew and grew, until, in my case, I spent a week at Camp Pendleton as the adult with Delta Company.

I had never done this and had no idea what to expect. I knew I was there primarily to keep the teens safe. A staff of five cadets, teens themselves, would lead the company. It was the same for the other three recruit companies — Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.

The Delta Company commander was a 6-foot, 4-inch young man from Seattle with a deep, booming voice. He looked about 25, but was only 16. When he woke up the recruits, they were moving in seconds.

On my first day, two companies of recruits headed to a classroom to learn about Navy uniforms. About a hundred teens filed in. They silently took their seats, pulled out their manuals and pens and sat straight. A young man from Irvine, dressed in a khaki Navy chief uniform, used a Power Point display to instruct the class. He answered questions with authority and confidence. (The cadets raised a closed fist to ask a question and stood up when called upon.) He looked and carried himself like he was in his mid-20s. He was 17.

He could instruct a group at a Fortune 500 company, I thought.

I sat in the back watching the scene. More than 100 teenagers being taught by another teenager, no joking around, no talking, just notes being taken and questions being asked. One of the female staff cadets walked between the rows of desks, scanning her recruits. Occasionally she would bend down, look directly at a recruit with a gaze that could have stopped the Tazmanian Devil and whisper a few words. The cadet would then walk to the back of the room and stand against a wall while continuing to take notes.

“What the heck was that?” I said to myself. I discovered that she had detected they were nodding off, and she told them to stand so they would stay awake.

Throughout the week, I stood back and watched as these cadets led hundreds of recruits and welcomed responsibility.

One of the more dramatic displays I saw was when the week neared its end and the recruits prepared for graduation. The four companies, plus three other groups from other trainings, gathered on a football field. As staff adults stood back, one young man from Boston directed the movements of hundreds. He was not corralling cats. They moved in unison under his command. He was 16.

On graduation day, the recruits and the other teenagers from the different trainings marched and stood at attention in their dress blue uniforms. I listened to the parents, family and friends. They were stirred, inspired and proud. So was I. I had seen young leaders at work, performing well beyond their years. As I watched the hundreds of cadets, staring straight ahead with looks of confidence and accomplishment, I envisioned potentially hundreds of leaders and a bright future for the country.